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EQUAL JUSTICE WORKS FELLOW, CLASS OF 2008
Name of Host Organization: Legal Aid of North Carolina
City, State: Durham, North Carolina
Issue area: Children/Youth, Education
Sponsor: Anonymous
THE INSPIRATION
While working as a legal intern for Advocates for Children’s Services, I learned about the devastating effect suspension can have on a child’s educational future. I also met many children who had been suspended or expelled but were unaware that they had any legal rights. I learned that in North Carolina, schools suspend students at a rate that is 45% higher than the national average. I wanted to reach out to students and their parents to educate them on their rights and advocate for students in school discipline hearings.
THE PROJECT
My host organization, Advocates for Children's Services, is a state-wide program of Legal Aid of North Carolina. Building on their history of representing children in education matters, my project will focus specifically on school discipline issues. I will provide trainings for parents and community groups on children’s rights in school discipline proceedings. I will also partner with the local bar to represent individual students and litigate the constitutionality of the school discipline statutes in North Carolina.
BIOGRAPHY
Hometown: | Raleigh, North Carolina |
Law school: | |
Making the connection: | I always thought I would be a teacher or a youth minister until I read Jonathan Kozol’s Savage Inequalities. The stark description of the brokenness of public education for poor children completely shocked me and aroused a deep sense of outrage. I knew I had to devote my career to improving public education and making a difference in the lives of individual children. |
Surviving law school: | The most important thing is to find or create a community that will encourage you as you pursue your dream of serving the public interest. Those friends, professors and career counselors can help you discover your gifts and passions, assist you with networking and inspire you when your resolve wanes. I also recommend attending as many interesting lectures and speakers as possible to keep you fresh and help you understand different perspectives. |
Recommended books: | Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol is a heartbreaking look at the state of public education in America; Good News About Injustice by Gary A. Haugen is uplifting because it puts my work into perspective; The Power of One is a novel about a little boy in South Africa who, against all odds, is determined to become the welterweight champion of the world. I get lost in his quest to do what seems impossible. |
Favorite website(s): | I set the New York Times education page as my homepage so I can stay up-to-date on the latest research and trends in the field of education. I also enjoy poking around on Slate.com for well-written articles on a wide variety of interesting topics. Sojourners.com is a site that integrates my faith and my passion for social justice. |
Music I love: | "Still Fighting It" (Ben Folds) and "Bullet Holes" (Waterdeep) speak to me about the unpredictable nature of life and the need to make the most out of each day; "The Planets: Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" (Gustav Holst) is an amazingly beautiful piece of music that never fails to stir my soul. |
Words to live by: | "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us -and we ought to lay down our lives for another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help?" - John 3:16-17 "But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. It is this type of understanding goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age. It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men." - Martin Luther King, Jr. "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" - Micah 6:8 |